Firearm.



L; L. HBPBURN,

FIREARM;

APPLIU'ATION FILED JUNE 6,1908.

Patented July 6,1909. gamma-sgml' 1 L [JHE 5 is, bm a I.. L. HBPBURN.

FIBEARM. APPLICATION FILED JUNI: 6, 1908.

Patented' July 6,1909.

'Z SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Y No. 927,464.

LEWIsI.. HErBURN, OE NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, AssICNOR To TEEMAELIN EIEEARMs Y COMPANY, OE NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATIONv OE CONNECTICUT.

FIREARM.

To all/whom it may con-cem: Be 1t known thatI, LEWIS L. HEIBURN, a

l citizen of the United States, residing at New f Haven, New Haven county, State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Firearms, of which the provide certain new and improved features of construction more particularly directed to the so-called closing spring 'and cartridge I handling .mechanism within the breech frame, the aimbeing to secure safety in opg eration, simplicity in construction and economyin manufacture. Thesel advantages will .be vwell understood by a mechanic familiar Vwith this art, by a reading of the, following specification and an examination of the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l shows a side elevation of a lfirearm, constructed to embody my invention, said Illustration being partly. In section and construction. Only a portion of the .barrel partly broken away to reveal the internal f-v and stock are shown; Fig. 2 shows, in the f l.. main, a similar view, cert-ain parts, however,

" being in a different position;'Fig.y 3 'shows av front elevation of the breech-block, de'

itached; Fig. 4 shows a view ofy the reverse side of the breech-block from that shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 shows a rear elevation of the breech-block; Fig. 6 shows ay rear and side Aelevation of the combined hammer and firing pin, detached; Fig. 7 shows a side elevation of the hammer sear, detachedgFig. 8 shows a side and front elevation of the trigger, de-

. tached; Fig.. 9 shows a side and edge elevation ofa link arranged to'connect the trigger with the sear, said part beingdetached; Fig.

'10 is a plan view of the connecting link be- :Y tween the closing springfand breech-block,

" and broken away.

detached. Fig. 11 illustrates another detail Y 45' of construction.y Fig. 12 is a'view similar to Figs. 1 and 2, certain parts beingV in a different Aposition and other parts being omitted 1 is the breech frame.

patent No. 434,062, dated August 12, 1890,

vthe said side plate being Veasily removable for the purpose of exposing and permitting Speciication of Letters Patent.

Application led June 6, 1908. Serial No. 437,063.

In this particular` instance, there is a removable side plate (not shown) adapted to said breech frame, for

example, such as set forth in my former Patented July c, 1909.7/

access to the interior of the breech mech-y anism.

2 is a barrel.

3 is the front reinforce.

4 is' amagazine of the box or clip type, arranged to be detachably connected with the breech frame to the rear of the reinforce 3, and in any suitable manner.

5 represents' a Aportion yof the stock.

6 represents the tang, so-called, projecting rearwardly from the reinforce of the breech frame and performing the doubleV function of furnishing a means to hold the stock 5 in l)lace and of furnishino` a housin or carrier for the closing spring.

7 is a plunger reciprocable in the tang 6 and pressed forward by means of a closing spring 8.. Y .Y 9 is t-he main body of the breech-block arranged to reciprocate in the frame 1, the normal position of the block `being advanced to close said breech and the chamber in the barrel.

10 is a4 link between the breech-block 9 and the'forward end ofthe plunger 7, through which link the power ofthe closingspring 8 is transmitted to said breech-block. This.

link 10 preferably has'a laterally projecting bearing pin 10a` (seegFig. V10) which takes into a corresponding bearing recess in the breech-block 9. As'will be seen, the power of spring 8 is transmitted in almost a straight line to the breech-block and is taken by the so A,

latter well forward of the. rear end, the for# ward end of saidlink 10 being suitably ful-V crumed tothe block at approximately the middle portion of the breech-block, in the particular form shownf By this means there is very little deiiectionof theYbreech-block by .reason of the pressure of the plunger 7 ,thusl guaranteeing a free and easy-sliding move-V 4ment ofthe breech-block'in the frame.

The hammer construction, in this instance, comprises. a combined hammer and firingpin, in which the main body 12 serves as a weight, theinertia or momentumV of which, when propelled forward, serves to cause the iiring-pinend 13 to strike the cartridge In the chamberV ofthe'barrel with the desired force, to explode theL same. f

12L is a projection or spline, thefunction of which is to prevent rotation of thehammer body 12'withinthe breech-block, the side wall of the bore in the breech-block being provided with a`groove"9b, inwhich said projection or spline 12a may slide as the hammer moves to and fro. Obviously, this arrangement might be reversed, the spline or proj ect-ion being on the breech-block and the groove in the body 12. Such a modification is too apparent to require illustration.

At the under side of the body 12 is a notch 12b, the function of which will be later eX- plained. The body 12 has a bore entering its rear end to receive a firing-pin actuating spring 14, the thrust of the rear end of said spring being taken on a shoulder within the breech frame, as best seen in Fig. 1. lf desired, a guide pin 14a may be employed to steady the spring 14 when the breech-block 9 and hammer are advanced, as shown in Fig. 1.

15 is a sear pivoted at 15 and having a nose 15b arranged to latch into the notch 12b in the hammer 12 at the proper time, the forward side of said nose 15b being inclined so that, as the hammer is being cocked, the forward end of the sear will be momentarily pressed down. The sear 15 has, by preference, an angular shoulder 15c near its fulcrum, arranged to the rear of spring 14, so that said spring will act not only as a means to propel the hammer forward, but will also operate said sear in a direction to cause it to latch into the hammer, thus dispensing with the necessity of a separate spring for that purpose.

15(1 is a rearwardly projecting shoulder arranged to be engaged by a laterally projecting shoulder 16ZL on the link 16, the opposite end of said link being pivoted, as at 16b (Fig. 9), to the trigger 17, said trigger being pivoted at 17a to the breech frame.

Sois a bifurcated spring having the spring ends 31-32. Thev spring Vend 31 engages the trigger 17, tending to restore it to its normal position. The spring end 32 engages the link 16 and operates to hold it in such a position as to engage the sear 15.

Loaded cartridges are carried in the magazine 4 and are separately released therefrom by the reciprocating action of the breechblock 9, in the well-known manner, unnecessary to describe herein. The breech-block 9 is, of course, provided with the usual eX- tractor 18, while the usual ejector 19 may be carried by the breech frame in such position that when a discharged shell is withdrawn by the extractor'lS, it will be engaged by said ejector 19 and thrown out of the breech frame through a suitable opening. In this instance, the opening is at the side, as indicated in Fig. 2.

9@ is a handle projecting from the breechblock, which furnishes a means to retract the breech-block manually, if any occasion arises therefor. At the rear of the breech-block there is a groove 9C- which aifords clearance for the link 16. The forward wall of this groove is indicated in dotted lines (Fig. 4)

and it is so positioned that when the breechblock has reached nearly the limit of its rearward excursion, said wall will strike against the link 16 andv tilt it back from the position shown in Fig. 1, so as to disengage the sear 15, which will then rise under the influence of spring 14 to engage the hammer. rl`he purpose of this feature of construction will be better understood when the operation is described.

The parts thus far described comprise the main features of my invention and while shown in the preferred form, the same may be modified in design and arangement without departing from the scope of this invention.

Operation: To operate the firearm, the magazine 14 is loaded with a suitable number of cartridges and is inserted in place, as in Fig. 1. The operator then grasps the handle 9a and pulls the breech-block back against the action of the closing spring 8. rlhis compresses the hammer spring 14. XV hen the breech-block 9 has retracted suficiently far the sear 15 engages in notch 12" in the hammer, thus holding the latter retracted. The breech-block 9 is then permitted to advance under the action of the closing spring 8. rfhis advance movement takes one cartridge from the magazine 4 and forces it into the chamber of barrel 2. The firearm is then ready to fire. the trigger 17 the sear 15 releases hammer 12. The hammer 12 then springs ahead under the power of spring 14 and the firingpin end 13 Ystrikes the cartridge in the chamber of the barrel, exploding the same. The blow-back of the cartridge shell is imparted to the breech-block, which is forced backl thereby and caused to repeat the operations previously described. During the rearward movement the discharged shell is extracted and ejected, and during the forward movement another loaded cartridge from the magazine is introduced into the chamber of the barrel, ready for firing, as before. The hammer 12 has, as before, been caught by the. sear 15 ready to be released at the proper time by pulling trigger 17. If the operator has held back the trigger and has thereby caused the hammer-engaging end of the sear 15 to be depressed, the breech-block 9 will strike against the link 16 near the limit of its rearward excursion, swinging it back, thus releasing sear 15, which thereupon springs up and engages the hammer so as to hold the same whether or not the trigger 17 is released, thus preventing premature firing. Vhen the breechblock advances under these conditions, the link 16 swings ahead (any suitable spring being provided to cause it to normally swing ahead) until the shoulder 16a bears against the rear end of the projection 15d. As soon as the operator releases the trigger, the link By pulling Y the same swings it ahead until drops into the notch i son "of failure on mechanism to engage and hold back the vhammer at each cycle of operation of the parts. Y

pulling the l again released.

` Inall probability, I instances, it will be imposs'ble for the user to release the trigger as quickly as the fire y, operation, ,f ger mechanism 16 moves'up, and the spring for operatingy shoulder 16a in the sear just above the projection d, as shown in Fig. 1, so that trigger the hammer may be in practice, in many arm would act to ycomplete one cycle of hence by having this safety trigthere is no danger of premature discharge of a second cartridge by reathe part of the trigger What I claim is:

Y' :1. `In an automatic repeating firearm, a breech-frame, a reciprocating Vbreech-block,

:a hammer and firing-pin carried thereby, a

' engage the hammer frame and arranged to sear carried by the when retracted, a sinvgle spring coperating with both the hammer and the Sear, a trigger, and means for operatively connecting said trigger with said sear when said trigger is released and the Ybreech-block is advanced from its rearmost position. n

2. Invaii automatic repeating firearm, a breech frame, a reciprocating breech-blockJ hammer and firing-pin carried thereby, a

, sear carried by the frame and arranged to engage the hammer when retracted, a single spring coperating with both the hammer and the sear, a trigger, and means for operatively connecting said trigger with said sear when said trigger is released and the breech-block is advanced from its rearmost position, said trigger vbeing automatically disengaged from said sear by the breechblock when the latter is at its rearmost posi'- tion.

3. In an automatic repeating firearm, a

breech frame, reciprocate therein, a cartridge holding magazine detachably carried by the breech frame and arranged underneath the forward end of the breech-block when the latter is advanced, a plunger like hammer carried by said breech-block, a spring mounted at one end in the frame and arranged to engagev said hammer at its rear to press the latter forwardly, a closing spring arranged to the rear of the breechblock and operatively *con-V GHAs. A; PEARD, ALICE MoRFoRD.

a breech-block arranged toV 

